


The Brave --1.

by Blue_Rose06



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black, The Selection Series - Kiera Cass, Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:33:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Rose06/pseuds/Blue_Rose06
Kudos: 1





	1. It all went so fast...

A few loud knocks on the door wake me from my sleep. Mom comes in and shakes me up. "Helena, honey, hurry and get ready", I get out of bed slowly, "Thalia, Eric and dad are waiting for you to join for breakfast. We don't have much time, the ceremony starts in an hour." Mom rushes out again and I quickly wash myself. Today is the ceremony, the King will pass on the crown to his son. The King is old, and some people even say he's sick. So his son takes over, and the King can rest. 

I take a look in my closet and take out my favourite dress. It's blue like the sea, with sleeves just over my elbows, and so long the hem almost touches the ground. I've always felt like the blue accentuates the brown of my skin and my dark locks. Once I'm finished getting dressed, I join my family and we have breakfast together. Dad works in the Council, he serves the King.It's important that we're on time for the ceremony, as dad is one of the important men to be there today. "How did you sleep last night, Helena?" dad asks. "I slept well father. I have a question for you actually", I respond and dad nods, telling me to continue. "At school, I heard some rumours about the King needing special guards for the Prince. Do you know anything about that?" Dad thinks for a second, but shakes his head. "I can't really say anything about this, since I don't know anything more than you do. The King hasn't particularly mentioned this, only vaguely that he wanted to secure the new King with a new program. I guess we'll hear more today." He sighs and continues eating. Thalia and Eric talk about how things go at school and mom reminds us of our behaviour for today. We clean up and leave for the Town Square. The coronation is being held in the Hall of Erithyme, which needs to be entered by a passageway at the Town Square. The streets are very crowded, everyone is heading for the ceremony. Today really is a special, historical day. No other Prince has ever been crowned King this young. King Dakios must be very sick to pass on the crown to his 17 year old son. I am completely lost in my thoughts, I don't even notice we're about to enter the passageway. Many people have to wait in the line, only Council members and their families can skip the line. The passageway is a dark staircase leading to an underground hallway. The hallway and the stairs are dimly lit by candles, so we need to watch where we walk. After the long hallway, we climb up high stairs and step into the light. The Hall of Erithyme is standing in front of us, it's marmer walls shining in the morning light. Guards secure the whole complex, and they walk around everywhere. In the huge garden, on the Wall and even just outside the passageway. A formal servant shows us the directions to the entrance. 

Once inside the Hall, we wait in a lobby with many other Council members and their families. When all the Councilers have arrived, a guard takes us to the upper department of the big hall. We spectate the ceremony from two levels above ground level, where the normal folk will gather in a few minutes. I can see the stage, and six thrones. One for King Dakios; one for Queen Ikara; two for the twins Damon and Kyros; one for Princess Amara and... One throne for Prince Lycus. Soon he'll be King Lycus. After a while, the hall is crowded with the folk. There are many different ethnicities present; from all the corners of the Kingdom, folk have travelled here for the ceremony. A loud trumpet announces the arrival of the Royal family. The King walks onto the stage, his heavy crown resting on his eyebrows. The King is followed by the Queen, the Princes and the Princess. Except for the King, the whole Royal family sits down. When the crowd quiets down, the King holds his speech. He has just started when he is rudely interrupted by a loud bang and screaming. It sounds like an explosion, and the hall fills with smoke and chaos. I can't follow what's going on, I can only see the folk running out of the hall, and guards shooting into the smoky hall. The King and the rest of the Royalty are guided out of the hall, and dad pulls us away from the hall. We run down the stairs, and there's an angry man with a pointy stick running towards us. I lift the hem of my dress and kick him in the stomach before he can hurt dad. I take Eric's hand, while dad grabs mom and Thalia. We run down hallways, mostly through the smoke and the darkness. I tighten my grip around Eric's hand and slow down as I hear voices nearing us. Dad pushes us against the wall, signaling us to be quiet. The voices are really close, I recognize three male voices and a female one. I hold my breath and pull my other arm around Eric protectively. I close my eyes, hoping this is an awful dream I'll wake up from.


	2. The small hall

I close my eyes, hoping this is an awful dream I'll wake up from. But the noise doesn't stop. I still hear screaming, I still hear mom and Thalia crying, I still hear dad shushing them, I still hear the voices nearing us. There's nothing we can do, we're unarmed. Outnumbered even, only dad and I can fight. "Michael, here are a few more!" and a Royal guard runs up to us. I feel my shoulder relax a little bit, seeing the other voices were also from guards. The woman kneels down before Thalia, and speaks with her softly, trying to assure her she'll be safe now. My attention moves back to the man with a bigger ribbon on his chest. He must be the captain. He looks around the hallway, concerned. Then, a loud gunshot echoes through the dark hallway, and the guard who found us, sinks to the floor. "Michael! Behind you!" the other man yells. The captain turns around and starts shooting. For what I can see, there's only one shooter. The female guards pulls mom, dad and Thalia away from us, away from the fight. Michael and the other man shoot into the smoke, and I pull Eric even closer. The man pulls me by my arm and lifts Eric in his arms. We run in the direction the female guard took with mom, dad and Thalia. After a while, we've come to a red carpeted hallway, with light and no smoke. the guard scans the corridor and puts Eric down. My eleven-year old brother looks scared, and I hug him. "We'll be fine Eric, and I'm sure mom, dad and Thalia are safe." I say. The guard tells us to wait around the corner, he hears some noises and wants to check it out. So we hide behind the wall, and I peek around the corner to check the hall. Suddenly, a door opens and a big man, with half his face burned and a huge tattoo on his muscular arms steps out. He holds a dagger and digs it deep in the guards guts. With a psychotic laugh, he pushes the lifeless guard to the floor. The scary man, turns to our direction, so I take Eric's hand, tell his to stay silent, and we run. Running over the soft, red carpet. We run past windows, and I see that outside the Hall of Erithyme, it's a huge chaos as well. People dressed in a black uniform, with a skull mask pull families apart. Eric, turns around, and he pulls at my arm. We see the man with the tattoo's lift another guard into the air with one arm. I put my hands in front of Eric's eyes as the man cuts the throat of the guard and the blood sprays around. I take Eric and open the first door I see. It leads to a staircase. I quietly close the door, lift Eric and start descending the stairs. 

After the stairs, we enter another door. I close the door behind me, and I finally get the feeling I can breath again. I sit down on my knees to inspect Eric. "Helena, where are we?" Eric asks. He only has a little scratch on his arm, but it doesn't seem to bother him much. "I'm not sure, Eric. I think we lost the scary man. Let's keep on walking and find a good place to hide and rest." He nods. He holds my hand, and we walk steadily through a gateway. At the end, we hear voices. I walk closer to the wall and near the small hall the voices come from. I carefully take a look inside, and see that behind these doors, the Royal family is hiding. I see a handful of guards, aiming their guns at the door. "King Dakios!", I scream from my side of the doors, "I am Helena, daughter of Taios, one of your Councilers." I wait, sure that they've heard me. Then a guard opens the door while another guard aims his gun on me. "Let them in", the King speaks, "They indeed are children of Taios." The guard stops aiming at me, and the bring us close to the Royal family. Queen Ikara stands up and walks over. She tells the twins to look after Eric, while she takes me apart. We walk over to the window. "Tell me, Helena, how did you find this? Are there others coming in this direction?" A little flustered by the Queen's presence, I look at the garden of the Hall. "My family and I fled from the big hall, but we got split up by guards during a fight. Eric and I were taken by another guard than my parents and my little sister. The guard who took us got murdered and I ran away with my little brother. We hid behind a door that happened to be the door to the staircase. That's kind of how we ended up here." The garden is still in a chaos, men and women are put in huge trucks. My heard breaks of the thought that my family could be carried away like that. "Helena, you're a very brave young lady. I want you to know that you're safe now. For a while at least." With that, the Queen gives me a warm smile and returns to her place. Only now I take a look at this small hall. The ceiling is pretty low, and the windows are the only source for light. Benches along one of the walls are what the Royal family sits on. The twin Princes play with Eric and some stones an sticks they must've found in the hall. Princess Amara sleeps in the arms of her brother, Prince Lycus. The only time I've ever seen him, was briefly before the chaos started. His hazelnut colored hair falls a little over his eyes and is out of place. His pale brown eyes are fixed on the door, as if there is a threat trying to destroy his family. I walk towards a dark corner, not so far away from the Royal family and sit down. We'll just have to wait, until the coast is clear. Eric walks back to me and lies down in my lap. I softly run my hand through his dark locks as he falls asleep. I sit for what feels like hours. 

I almost sleep as a tall figure nears me. I open my eyes and see that it's dark outside. Small candles are lit, providing some light in the darkness. It's hard for me to see who it is, until he sits down next to me, on the cold black floor. Prince Lycus. "You should sleep as well Helena, come here." He says, wiping off his shoulder. I carefully lean my head on his shoulder, and he puts a blanket over the three of us. He places his hand on mine and I fall asleep. I have a horrifying nightmare. Me and Eric are again in the corridor with the red carpet. I look over my shoulder and see the tattooed man stab the guard and laugh like a psycho. I run with Eric, but the carpet beneath our feet turns darker red, and liquifies. Blood splashes around and the scary man runs in on us. He pulls Eric away from me, and as I turn around I see the man lift his bloody dagger.

With a muffled scream, I wake up. My eyes are widely opened, and I lean back panting heavily. I look at Eric, he's still here, safe and well. Relief washes over me. I turn my head and immediately make eye contact with Prince Lycus. With a soft husky voice he asks :"Had a nightmare?" I nod, stunned by the beauty of his eyes. He puts one arm around me, and whispers "It's okay, I'm here and nothing can happen to Eric nor you now." I bury my face in his shoulder, and although I know it's inappropriate, I wish I could stay with him like this. I know we're strangers, and he's soon my King, he just makes me feel safe at this moment. A guard carefully wakes King Dakios, and another guard walks in. It's the female guard that took mom, dad and Thalia away. "Sire, the coast is clear now. I have a list here with the missing Councilers and Nobles."


	3. The Brave

The King wakes the other members of the Royal family. I want to let Eric sleep, and let him get some rest, but I notice he wakes up as the female guard starts reading the names out loud to the King and Queen. I run my hand through my little brother's hair, and he sits upright next to me, still a little sleepy. "Did you sleep well?" I ask. He nods slowly and points with his head toward Prince Lycus, who is still sitting on my left, right next to me. "You surely did, didn't you?" he asks, as a playful grin forms on Eric's face. Blushing red I shush him and we listen to the guard. A small frown appears on Eric's forehead, he must recognize the guard, but he doesn't say a thing. I listen with full attention, many Nobles and Councilors are missing, perhaps our family as well. 

"...Taios of Mykene, his wife and his youngest daughter..." I lose my focus and lean back to the wall. I can feel Eric crawls closer to me. I had forgotten about Prince Lycus' arm around my shoulder, and I'm surprised when he pulls me and Eric closer to him. I don't know why, but the Prince strokes my hand and takes Eric on his lap. "Helena.., they took mom and dad and Thalia, what do we do now?" Eric asks half sobbing, trying to be strong. I don't know what to say, because I really don't know the answer to that. We can't even be sure that our family is still alive... "Eric," Prince Lycus starts, "I have an idea, just wait right here with your sister, okay?" Eric nods doubtingly but agrees. The Prince carefully places Eric on my lap and he stands up. After the female guard finishes with all the names and the King has sent her away, Prince Lycus whispers something in his father's ear. King Dakios frowns and thinks, but eventually his expression gets softer. The King stands up from his place and walks over to us. "Helena," the King starts as I stand up, "You're a brave, strong, young lady. I had already discussed this with Queen Ikara before my son came up with the same idea. We'd like to offer you a place in the new training center of the Brave. The Brave are an auxiliary troop for war, but most importantly, they're the ones who will track down the cause of this catastrophe. If you accept, Princess Amara will brief you in some more."

I try not to let my jaw drop to the floor, and I try to take in what King Dakios has just said. It sounds kind of dangerous, but it gives me a chance to track down my family. Plus, perhaps I'll find the man who traumatized my little brother by killing two people in less than five minutes. But the most important thing for now, is that when I accept, I'll have a way to secure us and have a roof above our heads. I can provide food for me and Eric, and that's all that matters right now. I look at Eric, who clearly does not understand what is going on, before submitting my answer. I bow down for the King as I say:

"I accept, my King."


End file.
